“In Leeds we have a digital strategy to put us at the leading edge of hospitals using technology and information in secure and innovative ways.”

The app, known as Forward, was founded by junior doctors Lydia Yarlott and Barney Gilbert, who teamed up with Philip Mundy, the entrepreneur behind Goodlord, a software system used by estate agents and tenants to arrange property rentals.

Dr Yarlott, said the technology was badly needed in busy hospitals where medics have been struggling to cope with demands on their time.

She said: “As soon as I started working in hospitals, I was struck by how much time I was wasting trying to navigate switchboards or running around trying to respond to my pager. The inefficiency of the set-up was staggering. I had a powerful smartphone in my pocket, but was stuck using a 1960s-style communications network. My colleagues and I were wasting hours every day - time we could have been spending with patients.”

The app, which is free to download for all NHS clinicians, is already being used by several thousand clinicians across the UK.

Unlike WhatsApp, which many doctors have started using in recent years, Forward is compliant with NHS data security rules and meets General Medical Council confidentiality standards.

Dr Yarlott added: “This is a solution built for doctors, by doctors and one which we believe could make a drastic difference to how much time we’re able to spend with patients. With many NHS wards at breaking point this winter, technology solutions like Forward are desperately needed.”